


Written in the Stars

by ashleighjane



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 21:04:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10839429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleighjane/pseuds/ashleighjane
Summary: Bill contemplates the feelings that she developed surrounding Heather.





	Written in the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> This happened because I felt that there was way too much between two people that seemed to have only just met. It felt weird, like there was going to be more, idk. I feel like Heather could make a return, but I don't think she will. Anyway, I wanted to fit in some part where the doctor said they were star crossed lovers and bill is horrified because romeo and juliet were star cross lovers and the doctors response is 'But Romeo and Juliet didn't have my assistance. Plus, they were idiots.' But I couldn't find a way to fit it in nicely.

Bill didn’t yet feel at ease in the TARDIS. It was so new to her, and something about it felt cold. Bill just had a feeling that those blue police box door held a lot of secrets behind them. The metal walls felt imposing despite the room, or ship (Bill hadn’t decided what word best described the TARDIS as it didn’t look like any spaceship she had ever seen in a movie, but the word room didn’t seem to do it justice), being vast in size.

As The Doctor pressed buttons and pulled levers on the console, Bill paced. So many thoughts flew through her mind. She could not comprehend everything that she had seen; couldn’t comprehend everything that she now knew. She thought about the fact that The Doctor was an alien. She thought about the fact that the TARDIS was smaller on the outside. She thought about the fact that she had been twenty three million years into the future, on an alien planet. All of those things to think about, and most of all she thought about Heather. Heather, who had followed her twenty three million years into the future just to honour a promise. A stupid promise.

 _‘Bill, let go. You have to let go.’_ She did let go, physically. Emotionally, Bill didn’t think she ever would, or ever could. It didn’t seem right, to feel so connected to someone she barely even knew. She stopped pacing and let out a melancholy sigh.

“What’s up with you?” The Doctor asked without looking up from the console. He sounded put out, as though he would much rather not deal with Bill’s emotional turmoil.

“Uh, nothing.” Bill shook her head and laughed, trying to seem okay. “Nothing. I was just thinking.”

“Oh, really? Well don’t. It’s dangerous.” The Doctor had now paused from his work and was looking at Bill, his eyes darting around as he took everything in, analysing Bill’s demeanour.

Bill rolled her eyes.

“Tell me, then. What were you thinking about? Something I can help with, perhaps. I’m led to believe I’m quite good at that. Helping, I mean. Or, at least, I’m trying to get better.”

Bill laughed incredulously, unable to believe that The Doctor had no idea what was bothering her. She shrugged, throwing her hands up in the air before allowing them to land lamely at her sides. “Everything. I was thinking about everything. And no, I don’t think you can help.”

“Not possible. If you were to think about everything, your brain would explode.” The Doctor said flippantly.

“Really?” Bill titled her head to one side and screwed up her face slightly, wondering if it was true.

“No, of course not. Don’t be stupid.”

Bill opened her mouth, as if about to say something, but then just folded her arms and turned her back on The Doctor.

For a few moments there was an awkward silence as The Doctor returned to his tinkering and Bill returned to her pacing.

It was The Doctor who broke the silence, after violently yanking on a lever. “Please, tell me what’s on your mind. I can’t possibly work in this atmosphere.”

Nardole, who had been lurking in the shadows of the TARDIS, cleared his throat. “I did tell you she wasn’t alright.”

The Doctor glared at Nardole. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Actually, no.” Nardole had a smug grin on his face, which straightened out as The Doctor lowered his head slightly and his glare became more intense. “I suppose I have been meaning to drain the pool.” He said nervously.

“Yes, well, off you go. Now.” He clapped his hands together, seeming eager to pry into Bill’s mind. “Bill, what exactly have you been thinking about?”

“The TARDIS, time travel.” She paused, then blurted out. “And you’re an alien. I mean, it’s all a bit much to take in.”

The Doctor nodded. “Yes, yes. It is all a bit mind boggling, I’ll admit that. But there’s something else. Oh.” The Doctor slapped a hand against his forehead. “How could I be so stupid. It’s the girl.” The Doctor waved a hand in the air as he tried to remember her name. “Hannah … no … Harriet.”

“Heather.” Bill whispered, correcting him.

“Yes. Her.” The Doctor frowned slightly. “You miss her.”

Bill scoffed and shook her head. “No. Of course not. I barely even knew her.”

“And yet she followed you through time and space.”

Bill shrugged. “That wasn’t really her though, was it?”

“It was her consciousness that drove whatever she had become to follow you.”

Bill was silent for a moment, as she wondered whether she should tell The Doctor how she felt. She feared it would make her sound crazy, but then she thought what the hell, this whole situation is crazy. “I feel like I know her. Like we already met, a long time ago. But,” Bill narrowed her eyes slightly. “That’s not possible, is it? I mean, you would remember meeting a girl who had a star in her eye.”

“Yes, you would think so, wouldn’t you.” The Doctor sighed wistfully. “I knew a woman once, who met me before I met her. She was beautiful. Clever. Perhaps even as clever as me. We were happy together, for a time.”

“Only for a time?” Bill asked, a little disappointed.

“Yes, for a time. But isn’t that all anyone can ask for? Nothing and no one can last forever, not even me. Anyway, this is not the point. We were talking about Henrietta.”

“Heather.” Bill corrected him.

“Yes, whatever.” He waved a hand at Bill, dismissing her correction. “I believe we could find her again, maybe even save her.”

“She could be anywhere by now, though. And how could you save her?”

“Yes.” The Doctor grinned, and tapped the TARDIS console gently. “But I can go anywhere. And usually, when it comes to the saving, I just improvise.”

“She said my name” Bill said quietly.

“What?” The Doctor took a couple of strides forwards, and grabbed Bills face, looking her straight in her eyes. “What do you mean, she said your name?” As if suddenly realising what he was doing The Doctor removed his hands from Bills face, thrusting them into his pockets.

“Well, you know she would only copy everything we said?”

The Doctor nodded. “Yes, go on.”

“Before she left I said ‘Goodbye, Heather.’ She said ‘Goodbye, Bill.” Bill shrugged. “ I know it doesn’t mean anything, it just -”

“No, no. That means everything. That means that part of her still remains, which means the possibility of being able to save her is all the more likely. Why? Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

Bill shrugged. “I dunno. It didn’t seem all that important.”

“One thing you need to learn if you’re going to travel anywhere with me is that I decide what is and what isn’t important. You tell me everything.”

Bill nodded quickly, slightly intimidated by The Doctor’s outburst. “Okay, yeah. Got it. Tell you everything.”  
“Humans.” The Doctor muttered. “At least you learn quickly. Where were we? Ah, yes. Are you sure you want to try to save your friend?”

“Well, duh.”

“Don’t be flippant. I ask, because we might not be able to save her. I’m not sure you’re aware of how painful it can be to try to save someone you care about, only to fail.”

“It can’t be any worse than not trying, always wondering what if.”

The Doctor murmured in agreement. “Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.”

“I don’t love her. I … barely ever know her.” As she spoke it dawned on Bill that she did feel awfully strongly for someone she barely even knew. It wasn’t love, it couldn’t be. But it wasn’t nothing, either. For the first time in her life Bill wondered if maybe, just maybe, something things were destined to happen. That maybe she was destined to fall in love with a girl who held a star in her eye. That maybe she had been destined to travelled with a man that travelled the stars. Bill smiled, as she realised that they were going to save Heather; it was written in the stars.


End file.
